Departures of note

John Humphries was a Welsh journalist and author who edited the Western Mail, Wales's national newspaper, from 1988 to 1992. Born in Newport, he began his career as a foreign correspondent in Europe for Thompson Newspapers before returning to Wales to take the editor's chair, where he was known for his sharp editorial wit and command of local affairs. He was a passionate advocate of greater political independence for Wales and founded the Independence Wales Movement after leaving the paper. He also wrote a gardening column for the Western Mail's Week End magazine for many years and transformed his garden in Tredunnock, Monmouthshire, into a celebrated collection of rare plants. After retiring, he wrote several well-regarded non-fiction books on Welsh history, including Freedom Fighters: Wales's Forgotten 'War' 1963-1993, The Man from the Alamo, and Spying for Hitler: The Welsh Double-Cross. In 1987 he co-founded the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal with Malcolm Thomas to help their children, who had leukaemia; the charity grew to recruit thousands of donors before its work was taken over by the UK government in 2005. He died peacefully on 5 October 2026, aged 89.